Kamen Rider Fourze
is a Japanese tokusatsu drama in Toei Company's Kamen Rider Series, being the thirteenth series in the Heisei period run and the twenty-second overall. It began airing on September 4, 2011, the week following the conclusion of ''Kamen Rider OOO, joining , later , in the Super Hero Time lineup. Trademarks on the title were filed by Toei in April 2011. The series commemorates not only the Kamen Rider Series' 40th anniversary but also the 50th anniversary of spaceflight, which began with Yuri Gagarin's Vostok 1 flight in 1961. The show's catchphrase is , referencing the transformation belt which gets its various powers from devices called to conjure attachments to Fourze's limbs. As with the two previous series, the protagonist of Fourze made his debut in the annual summer film of the show's direct predecessor, appearing in Kamen Rider OOO Wonderful: The Shogun and the 21 Core Medals. Story Amanogawa High School has become the center of strange happenings, and things only get stranger when the bad boy styled transfer student Gentaro Kisaragi attempts to make friends in his own unique way, reuniting with childhood friend and self-professed space travel otaku Yuki Jojima, all while gaining the ire of loner Kengo Utahoshi and the school's queen bee Miu Kazashiro and her enforcer jock boyfriend Shun Daimonji , as garishly styled social butterfly JK and goth girl Tomoko Nozama watch on. Kengo is revealed to be the son of Rokuro Utahoshi, an astronaut who died on the moon. When monsters called Zodiarts begin to appear on campus, Kengo and Yuki attempt to use the strange devices they have found in the Rabbit Hatch lunar base a year ago that they can access through a locker on an off-limits part of campus to fight them. However, Gentaro interferes in their plans, in part due to Kengo's body unable to handle the strains of battle, and uses the devices to transform into Kamen Rider Fourze. Over time, Gentaro earns the friendships of Kengo, Miu, Shun, JK and Nozama and they all join the Kamen Rider Club, set up to all help fight against the Zodiarts. Gentaro also slowly is given access to the power of the Astroswitches, which allow him to enter Elek and Fire states to help him in his battles against the Zodiarts and their commanders, the Horoscopes; so named as there are twelve commanders who each represent a sign of the Zodiac... however Scorpio, Libra, Virgo and Leo are the only ones active when the series starts. It is revealed that they are being commanded by Mitsuaki Gamou, the school's chairman (and old friend of Kengo's father) while Gentaro's seemingly-friendly homeroom teacher Sarina Sonada is Scorpio and the school's principal Kouhei Hayami is Libra. Virgo and Leo's identites are not initially revealed. Sarina, as Scorpio, is put in charge of distributing Zodiart switches to students they believe may evolve into other Horoscope members. However she fails at every opportunity and Virgo banishes her to the mysterious Dark Nebula at Gamou's command. Her switch is left behind with Gamou. Gentaro meets a student from Subaruboshi High School named Nadeshiko Misaki who for some reason has a similar driver to Gentaro and can trainsform into Kamen Rider Nadeshiko, who looks like a female version of Fourze. They soon find that Nadeshiko is actually an extra-terrestrial substance known as SOLU which is mimicking the appearance of the real Nadeshiko and can copy what it sees, explaining how it has a Fourze driver. Gentaro falls in love with Nadeshiko, and his heartbroken when she is dissolved by Foundation X member Lem Kannagi. She leaves him a gift in the form of the Super-Rocket switch, allowing him to assume Rocket States to defeat Kannagi, however he barely uses this form afterwards due to the bad feelings he was left with. Around this time Ryusei Sakuta, an exchange student from Subaruboshi High, arrives at the same time as the mysterious Kamen Rider Meteor who is also fighting against the Zodiarts but has no interest in teaming up with Fourze as he is hunting the Aries Horoscope. Ryusei manages to infiltrate the Kamen Rider Club without revealing he is Meteor, having gained his power from the mysterious Tachibana (who works from the orbiting M-BUS) of the Anti-Zodiarts Union, with the intent to find Aries in order to wake up his friend Jiro who fell into a coma when an attempt to use a Zodiarts switch (in order to impress Ryusei) backfired. Although allowed into Kamen Rider Club, Ryusei refuses to accept Gentaro's friendship and Gentaro himself knows that Ryusei is holding something back. Soon after this, Gentaro is granted the use of Magnet States making him even stronger. The Horoscopes gains its fifth member when Natsuji Kijima, previously the Pegasus Zodiart, evolves into Cancer. His arrogant personality soon makes him an enemy of both Meteor and Hayami while even Gamou is put off by how quickly Kijima manages to access his dormant powers. Ryusei is tricked into revealing his identity in front of Kijima, and Tachibana removes Ryusei's powers as one of the conditions of him being Meteor was that his identity was left secret. Eventually however Ryusei manages to prove himself to Tachibana and is given a new state with the Meteor Storm switch. Also, despite himself, he starts to appreciate what the Kamen Rider Club is doing but still won't open up to them. Hayami then seemingly tricks Virgo into sending Kijima into the Dark Nebula before he can reveal Meteor's identity to anyone, while Virgo collects the discarded switch for Gamou. Miu and Shun graduate from Amanogawa High but remain club members due to their colleges being near the school. Kamen Rider Club is put under threat when teacher Chuta Ohsugi, who has had a dislike of Gentaro since his first day, learns that he is Fourze. He is about to report the club's existence and location to Principal Hayami when he learns that a member of the faculty has been distruibuting Zodiarts switches. Not sure who to trust, Ohsugi agrees to become the group's faculty advisor making the group official while allowing them to maintain their secrecy. Kengo has managed to unlock all forty Astroswitches but finds that the last switch, Cosmic, doesn't work. After weeks of searching for Aries at Amanogawa High without success, Ryusei learns that in an ironic twist of fate that his target was the very student he exchanged with, Tatsumori Yamada who is now terrorizing Subaruboshi High. Reporting this to Kamen Rider Club, Ohsugi arranges for Gentaro, Ryusei, Kengo and Yuki to visit Subaruboshi High and there they find Yamada is forcing the students to act out his plays, with him using his powers as Aries to send them into an eternal sleep if they refuse. Ryusei confronts the Horoscope and makes a deal; if Ryusei kills Gentaro, he will wake up Jiro. Ryusei agrees and, although he hesitates when it comes to the critical moment, kills Gentaro after Fourze nearly manages to destroy Aries. Tachibana decides Ryusei can no longer be Meteor and cancels his transformation in front of the whole Kamen Rider Club, allowing them to finally learn the identity of the mysterious Rider. Aries manages to capture the majority of Kamen Rider Club, but Kengo is saved by Tachibana who has him take Gentaro's body back to the Rabbit Hatch. Kengo learns that Tachibana was also responsible for allowing Kengo to find the Fourze driver his father had invented. Aries honors his part of the deal and wakes Jiro up, however the boy starts deteriorating when he learns the lengths Ryusei went to and goes back into a coma. This sends Ryusei into despair, as he realizes he did want to be Gentaro's friend and now feels he has betrayed his own nature and lost everything as a result. He then decides that the only thing he can do now is to save the other members of Kamen Rider Club from Aries, taking him and his forces on in a battle that will almost certainly lead to his death. However he is saved by Gentaro, revived with the power of the Cosmic Switch and Kengo's friendship. Gentaro forgives Ryusei for his actions, telling him he's glad to finally see the real person behind his previous facade. Ryusei finally accepts Gentaro's friendship, and Gentaro uses the Cosmic Switch (powered by all the Astroswitches) to destroy Aries, leaving Yamada in what is likely an eternal coma. Ryusei is then forgiven by the Kamen Rider Club and Tachibana allows him his powers back and the Kamen Rider Club agree to keep his identity and the existence of the Anti-Zodiarts Union a secret. Fourze and Meteor begin fighting side-by-side as allies at this point. Meanwhile the Aries switch is collected by Virgo and presented to Gamou, who is revealed to be collecting them for a mysterious purpose. During a field trip to Kyoto Kengo meets Kuniteru Emoto, an old friend of his father. It is through Emoto that Kengo learns of the Hole, a phenomenon above both Amanogawa High and Kyoto which is linked to the cosmic energy used by the Zodiarts. It is also during this time that Fourze and Meteor first encounter Leo who is revealed to the audience to be Kou Tatsugami, Gamou's bodyguard who is loyal to the point of being fanatical (at one point, he attacks Fourze as Leo simply for touching Gamou). After Hayami allows the Hole about Kyoto to be closed by the Kamen Riders, Gamou is ready to send him to the Dark Nebula when he suddenly develops the Eye of Laplace, a new power which allows him to instantly see who is destined to become a Horoscope allowing them to bypass the need to create Zodiarts. Hayami learns through this that Gamou himself will become Sagittarius. The first student Libra targers is Tojiro Goto, who becomes Capricorn and is also an old friend of JK. Spending time with Goto reminds JK of his previous musical dreams and briefly quits the Kamen Rider Club despite the fact Goto is using his music to hypnotize students. Although JK quickly realizes he has made a mistake and rejoins, it is reveals that the Cosmic Switch will not function if anyone leaves Kamen Rider Club (due to it being powered by friendship). Goto is defeated and his memory is wiped by Virgo, who then releases him but confiscates the Capricorn switch and gives it to Gamou. Wannabe astronaut Erin Suda becomes the Aquarius Horoscope, and upon finding out Gentaro is reluctant to fight her knowing that she is a friendly girl who is being corrupted by the power of the switch. Eventually Erin persuades Gentaro to battle her in a fair fight and he is able to defeat her upon which Virgo arrives to confiscate the switch. Erin's memory of being Aquarius is wiped, allowing her to re-start a friendship with Gentaro anew. Soon afterwards the president of the Student Council Yuta Sugiura is revealed to be Taurus, imposing new rules stifling individuality and using his powers to hypnotise anyone who doesn't fall under his command eventually managing to bring Gentaro, JK and Ryusei under his thrall. Meanwhile Emoto begins teaching at Amanogawa High and saves Tomoko from Taurus at one point. Touched by his kind nature, she decides to give him a moon rock upon finding out he is still collecting moon-related items despite the death of Rokurou there. However when she enters his office she is shocked to find that the supposedly kind scientist is actually none other than Virgo. Kamen Rider Club finds that Sugiura's actions are due to his feelings for the previous president who was injured previously, and he is persuaded to let his victims go. However at this point Virgo turns up and sends Sugiura to the Dark Nebula (collecting his switch as usual) before battling Fourze and Meteor. He manages to escape, before then sending Tomoko to the Dark Nebula too in order to keep his identity secret. Kamen Rider Club soon realizes Tomoko is missing, upon which Tachibana calls them and warns them she has been eliminated and the club should disband as only Gentaro, Ryusei and Kengo are truly needed to fight the Horoscopes, also warning that Gentaro needs to find a way to power the Cosmic Switch other than through friendship. After this Virgo begins terrorizing Yuki, Miu, Shun and JK while at school as well as claiming responsibility for Tomoko's disappearance. With their lives now directly under threat, the four members reluctantly leave the club with the blessing of the three remaining members, however this renders the Cosmic Switch un-usable. As Kengo tries to establish Virgo's identity, Tachibana arrives in person at the Rabbit Hatch to try and teach Gentaro how to use Cosmic without his friends. However his initial efforts fail, and Kengo finds out that Tachibana is another identity assumed by Virgo. Ryusei, enraged, attacks Virgo but is sent to the Dark Nebula as well. Gentaro however decides to continue Tachibana's training, knowing that his ultimate motivations are good, and soon manages to master using Cosmic again revealing that although they're not in the club he has realized the friendship he shares with everyone hasn't ended. At this point Yuki and the others return to Kamen Rider Club, having decided that their lives are worth the risk if it means saving the Earth from the Horoscopes. Convinced that Gentaro is correct and that friendship is something to be cherished. He returns Ryusei and Tomoko, revealing that he wasn't actually sending his 'victims' to the Dark Nebula but actually to the M-Bus where they were put into a deep sleep. He accepts Gentaro's friendship, but is then badly wounded by Gamou who has finally assumed his Sagittarius form. Gentaro and Ryusei fight Sagittarius using their full power but are easily defeated by him, and Emoto warns Kengo that Gemou is collecting the Horoscope switches but before he can say why or reveal Sagitarrius's identity, he is killed by Libra and Leo and has the Virgo switch taken. Characters Kamen Riders Movie Only Novel Only *Kamen Rider Icarus Kamen Rider Club *Kengo Utahoshi: systems analyst *Yuki Jojima: Founder, 2nd Club President, researcher *Miu Kazashiro: former Club President *Shun Daimonji: Powerdizer Pilot, bodyguard *Tomoko Nozama: spiritual coordinator *JK: Peoples Relation Officer, researcher *Chuta Ohsugi: Club Adviser *Ran Kuroki: Member (2nd batch) *Haru Kusao: Member (2nd batch) Horoscopes Monster League *Rumi Komaki *Daita Kondou *Chikao Nezu Space Ironmen Other Villaiins *Foundation X **Super Galaxy King **Suddendath **Unicorn Zodiarts *Dai-Shocker **Narutaki **Shadow Moon * ** Other Heroes Other Kamen Riders *Showa Riders **Seven Legendary Kamen Riders *Heisei Riders |Philip/Shotaro Hidari |- | style="width: 20px; background-color: black; "|Kamen Rider Joker |Shotaro Hidari |- | style="width: 20px; background-color: black; "|Kamen Rider OOO |Eiji Hino |- | style="width: 20px; background-color: teal; "|Kamen Rider Birth |Shintaro Goto |- | style="width: 20px; background-color: teal; "|Kamen Rider Birth Prototype |Akira Date |- | style="width: 20px; background-color: black; "|Kamen Rider Wizard |Haruto Soma |} * * * Other Allies *Den-Liner crew **Naomi **Owner *Hina Izumi * ** ** ** * ** Episodes Book adaptations Manga A manga adaptation of Kamen Rider Fourze, written and illustrated by MegaMan NT Warrior artist Ryo Takamisaki, was first published in the February issue of CoroCoro Comic Special. Novel A novel based on Kamen Rider Fourze is set to be released on March 1st, 2014.http://bookclub.kodansha.co.jp/bc2_bc/search_view.jsp?b=3148696 Crossover with Crayon Shin-chan Four short crossover episodes, collectively titled , between Kamen Rider Fourze and Crayon Shin-chan were shown in each show's time slots during April 2012 to promote their respective series' new films: Kamen Rider × Super Sentai: Super Hero Taisen and Crayon Shin-chan: The Storm Called!: Me and the Space Princess. The characters will crossover in two episodes of each respective series. The story follows Shin-chan teaming up with Kamen Rider Fourze in order to go to space and rescue Shin's younger sister who had been taken to Planet Himawari to become its princess. The first and fourth episodes feature both anime and live-action while the second and third were entirely animated. Episodes # # # # Cast * : * : * : * : * : * : * : * : * : * : * : * : * : * : * : * : * : * : Guest cast * : * : * : * : * : * : * : * : * : ** ** ** ** ** * Member of Light Music Club (26): tatsuo (of everset) * Member of Light Music Club (26), : Ryo (of defspiral) * Member of Light Music Club (26): Masaki (of defspiral) * Member of Light Music Club (26): AYANO (of FULL AHEAD) * : * : * : * : Suit actors * Kamen Rider Fourze: * Kamen Rider Meteor: * Libra Zodiarts, Scorpion Zodiarts, Sagittarius Zodiarts: Hero Vision, vol. 43The episode 5 of Kamen Rider Fourze the Net Edition: Everyone, Let's Go to Class! * Leo Zodiarts: Uchusen, Vol. 136 * Virgo Zodiarts: * Pegasus Zodiarts, Cancer Zodiarts: Notes *This season was originally going to have been about the Kamen Rider Club investigating various urban legends about Kamen Riders, and would have featured appearences of many past Kamen Rider actors, however, this was scrapped due to it being too similiar to Kamen Rider Decade. *This series contains the most used of Ending Themes in Neo-Heisei period, being used it almost every episodes, except for some occasions. The other just use Ending Themes for rare occasions. *This is the first series since Kamen Rider Agito to not feature an original evil Rider/Anti-hero Rider in its films or respective show. *This is the only post-''Kamen Rider Kuuga'' Heisei series to not include a Tertiary Rider. References External links *[http://www.tv-asahi.co.jp/fourze/ Kamen Rider Fourze] at TV Asahi *[http://www.toei.co.jp/tv/fourze/ Kamen Rider Fourze] at Toei TV Category:Kamen Rider Series Category:Neo-Heisei era Category:Over-Technology Category:Heisei era